Everyone knows that children develop at different rates. Some children start talking young, but are late bloomers when it comes to walking. Others potty train at an early age, but don’t read until much later. Lots of things factor into this. Looking through our rich data set, we found something surprising: there are strong regional differences in child development.
Every day, many thousands of parents in the U.S. use Circle of Moms’ Child Space to share their children’s milestones with friends and family. And since Child Space has been widely adopted (more than 10% of the children born in the US in the past three years have a Child Space on Circle of Moms) we can pull some significant inferences from the data all this activity generates.
Northeast babies get chewing early; West Coasters stay on the liquid diet as long as they can
So when do children first eat solid foods? Turns out there are some large regional variations:
Average Age (in weeks) at which Children First Eat Solid Food
We found these results pretty amazing: moms in the Northeast give their children solid food nearly two weeks — or 10% of the baby’s life — earlier than their peers on the West Coast. While around 55% of moms in the South, Northeast, and Midwest have given their children solid food by age 18.5 weeks, just 39% of mothers on the Pacific Coast have done the same.
Southern babies knock us out with the way they talk
Next we looked at when a child first uttered a word. Here there are also large regional variations, though interestingly they seem unrelated to the numbers for solid foods:
Average Age (in weeks) of Child's First Words, by Region
Southern children seem to be early talkers, for reasons unknown to us. 40% of them utter their first word by 7 months, compared to only 25% of Mountain state children.
We wish they all could be Southern babies… and potty train early!
This trend holds — sort of — for potty training:
Average Age (in months) of Children Being Potty Trained
Here we again see Southern children developing most quickly, becoming potty trained more than a month before kids in any other part of the country, while children in Mountain states are later bloomers. In between, though, we see the order has shifted quite a bit. Midwesterners talk early and potty train late, while West Coasters talk late and potty train early. There’s a clever joke there somewhere, but we’re going to resist the temptation and stick to the data!
As you can see, there are some interesting trends we can find by looking at how people are using Child Space. If you have thoughts on why these trends exist, have seen other interesting research on the topic, or have other ideas for future posts, please let us know in the comments!
My son was 34months when he was potty trained and my daughter was 24months. My son was around 7months when he eat baby food and my daughter was around 5months. My son said his first word when he was around 6months and my daughter was the same. We live in Arkansas so that is in the southern part of the US. The figures are pretty neat
I lived in the South years ago and there are alot more stay @ home mothers which to me explains the difference. At the same time I would never raise my child there so I guess there is give and take!
Tabitha….thanks for the insult! I live in Alabama and am very proud of my choice to raise my child here!
My son said his first word at 4 months of age. walking at on his own (not hanging on to anything) at 13 months, potty trained at 26 months reading at 30 months. Oh that would mean he was speaking full sentences at age 2! Not bad for a kid that was born 5 wks early, huh?! yep, that’s my miracle baby! =) oh yeah, we live in Indiana!
I’m curious what consists of a child’s first word? The first time they say “dada” or “mama”? Or the first time they say it and mean it? (ie. they say dada when daddy comes in the room?)
Maggie…
Sorry I should have been more explicit as I was not trying to offend anyone…I lived in OK and would not raise my child there. I hope all of the South is not the same as I moved there in high school from the West Coast and was treated horrible! Not only that but the segregation and racisim was more than I could ever express. I dont know if its the difference of being raised on the West Coast or what but I would never want my child to have the morals I saw! Luckily I was old enough to know right from wrong.
I live in Kansas my son said his first words Mama and Dada at about 5 months( with understanding), at about 6 and 7 months he was also able to say baba, and dog he took his first steps alone at 9 months and at 11 months was walking freely, he is now 13 months and enjoys pointing at objects for me to indentify them and I am sure he is storing this all away developing his vocabulary. Education is my only concern for early developement, potty training, weaning from the binki or bottle are not a high priority to me so as long as they are done by the time school starts : )
I live on the Mississippi Gulf Coast & have a 2 year old little girl. She was saying mama & dada consistently & correctly by the time she was 5 months old, she was walking on her own by 10 months. We also took her off the bottle at ten months. She turned 2 in Dec. & is almost fully potty trained & can speak full sentences, “I love you too mama.” She can count to ten in English & we’re up to 5 in Spanish. She knows most of her colors & alphabet, & can identify most words in a book. I’m a massage therapist & work out of our home. My husband does computer programming & does most of his work from home. I do believe that being able to stay at home with your child helps them develop faster. She’s also an only child, so most of the time she’s around adults. We’ve never really spoken “baby talk” to her either so her pronunciation is pretty accurate.
My daughter started eating vegetables at six months and walking, potty-trained at 24mo 2 wks. I did not feed her very much vegetables, and now she only eats tomatoes, avocatoes, cabage, lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, jicama, raw spinach, corn, peas and she finally tasted sparragus. Her fist word was around seven months. She is smarter than me and I hardly ate vegetables, but now I love them.
My daughter is 2 on march 8, she said her first words when she was about 4 months mama, baba( dad in farsi) she started walk freely at 9 months. Now she can read letters, and speak 2 different language not fluently but she can translate what she is saying in english into farsi or vice versa. She can make her own decisions about what she wants to eat or drink and she even gets most of them herself with the help of me opening the fridge for her but other than she is a very smart child, And she was born in OK and lived there til she was 4 months then she came to the west coast. And who ever said there is racism and bad moral in OK u are wrong i lived there for 4 years and i didnt see that once so its either you or you cant figure out what racism and discrimination is. It is wrong to talk about other states just because it doesn’t fit in with what you think is right. It is insulting and wrong, and IMMORAL for any human being to talk about other PEOPLE like that so get a damn life and quit talking about other states as if you are the damn queen and if people do go by your standards than it is wrong well hate to break it to you but the world is right and YOU ARE WRONG k so next time before insult people and the states think about yourself first and think hmmmmm it could be ME. And if you have problem with my opinion feel free to write back but it wont change a damn thing.
My daughter started talking at 6 months. She started with Mumma. I live in Canada though, so I guess this does not help much.LOL!
Is there really a need to argue, curse, and take too personally a comment posted here? If you truly believe the states being referred to are just fine (in respect to this survey), you could allow someone else to state their opinion/perspective without responding negatively and defensively.
Everyone brings valid information to share, whether it mirrors your ideals or not. As stated the sharing of the information was not intended to offend anyone, rather an experience that contributed to someone’s opinion to live in a particular location…
“In a controversy the instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun striving for ourselves.” -Source unknown
I don’t think region has anything to do with the way your child will develop in his/her milestones. I have 6 children, 3 boys & 3 girls, all developed differently depending on the time I was able to spend with each one of them. My first 2 (twin girls) developed their milestones earlier because I had more time to dedicate to them. My 3 & 4 boy & girls were a considerably earlier than the first 2. Maybe because they learned from their siblings more than the time I could give them due to working fulltime. My last 2 (twin boys) are blooming late still, and even though I became a stay home mom again, seperating from their father has probably impacted their normal milestone develpment. I’ve lived in the north central region, I don’t think me living in any other area would of made a difference. The priorities you set is what helps your child grow and if they are late bloomers it could just mean they need a different way of being motivated to grasp that milestone.
Not all children learn the same way. Some need repetition while some can simply learn by visualizing an object.
even though he has a mommy who works and goes to school
my son got his first tooth at 5 mos crawling at 6mos walking at 10mos. Abc’s at 24mos. My daughter walking at 9mos first tooth at 8 mos. Kids develope at their own pace
I believe this is all rubbish, I think it all depends on the parents and the parenting style. It has nothing to do on where you live.
You all realize that this is supposed to be fun, right? Not a critism of any style of parenting, or region of the country. We tend to live where we are comfortable, and can find work to support our families. We raise our children the best we can, with or without the support of spouses, grandparents, siblings, etc. I hope every parent is taking the time to enjoy being a parent, regardless of how quickly our children are growing up. My kids are almost grown. …Time flies…enjoy every milestone as it comes…time flies!
I think the mapping & data was very interesting, but I do have to agree that children develop at their own paces. My husband & I have 3 children – 9, Son; 4, Daughter; 2, Son. Our 2y/o has jumped into everything much faster than our 2 oldest children, but I believe 100% it’s because he wanted to do what the “big kids” were doing & wanted to keep up. All 3 of our children were eating baby food/solids by about 9-10 weeks old, but then again.. My children are eaters & always have been! lol Potty training.. Well, our oldest hated the potty, but was trained around 2 – 2 1/2; our daughter was quick & loved every part about using the “BIG POTTY” and was trained just shy of 2 y/o… But our little guy – he’s a hit or miss with it… He’s only curious when he doesn’t have anything else going on at the moment. lol
The one thing EVERYONE has to remember… Children are “NEW” to everything and learn at their own paces… Don’t force your child to “keep up” with anyone els’s children.. They well develop at their own speed and that’s what makes them individuals!
my son has been potty trained since he was 12weeks thats right 12 weeks thats 3months old he is now 6 months and still goes in the potty every time he hasnt had one accident since the first time he pooped in the potty granted he cannot control his pee yet and let me know but he never poops in his diaper only on the potty and i live i oregon
Wow this one will throw a curve ball. Daughter is now 4.5 yrs. She started eating homemade baby food @ 6 months. I was/am a stay @ home mom. She was a late bloomer in every way, but is very normal and intelligent as far as development goes
Crawled @ 10.5 mos!! Walked @ 15.5 mos!! Spoke 1st word @ 11 mos!! She has always been extra cautious and never attempted anything unless she was absolutely sure she knew what she was doing! My 7 month old started eating homemade baby food @ 6 months and sat up @ 6.5 months. That’s all we got so far for him 
Cracked a tooth today, but that’s it!
My kids will throw a curve ball into the mix. Sierra spoke her first word when she was 2 months old and uttered her first sentence at 4 months. She hasn’t stopped yet. She started walking 10 months. She was potty trained by 2 1/2 and started reading about the same time.
Jackson was also an early talker. At 1 year 1 week and 6 days he ran into the bathroom and yelled “hurry mommy potty”, and then peed in the potty. At 2 years 2 1/2 months he knows 30 something state capitals and loves to read (not just be read to).
Did I mention that we homeschool?
Elena
I definitely agree with the no baby talk, our kids have great pronunciation also, because we never used baby talk:)Our daughter is 4 1/2, speaks very clearly, and a large vocabulary:) knows her whole alphabet, uper case and lower case, can write her own name and recognizes words, such as her name her brothers mommy daddy, Our son is 3 he has a large vocabulary also and uses it in the right context, he can sing half the alphabet:D recognizes all but a couple of the letters, upper and lower case:) and is starting to write his name too! We also read to our children alot, a story every night for each of them, and they ask us quite often to read to them or play spelling games:) We have also considered home schooling:)
As for the teething lol, For our daughter we tried infant Tylenol, but started research more into medicine our outcome changed our minds:) we are all organic now! Other then that we just had the vibrating teethers, wasn’t too difficult. But honestly most of the time just picking them up and rocking them for a bit or singing a song
Wow what an interesting article. I live in southwest Texas and my son Trace said Mama when he was 2 months old. My jaw dropped when i heard him. It is so exciting to watch your child(ren) develop over time. -Jenny R.
Are there any moms who have special needs children? Looking to chat w a mom w similar ups and downs.
I live in Alabama, but had my son in Georgia. He was 5 weeks early only 3lbs. His lungs were underdeveloped and the doctors said he’d be behind other children his age. My son is now 2, talking in full sentences as well, if not better, than my 4 year old (my boyfriends son). And as far as baby talk, I’ve never done that with my son. I’ve helped him with pronunciation and he is doing great! As for potty training, he goes when he wants, and only then no matter what I try. I am a stay at home mom and have been since my son was born. I think being a stay at home has a huge effect on how early your child talks etc. And I am in no way saying that moms who work don’t have children who seem a little advanced. I am, however, disgusted with some of the bickering on here.
I see a lot of bragging and comparing here. That is what I usually see when I get to attend a mommy group. Why is it that some moms think they are better than the rest? If you think you need to brag to feel better, then you have a serious self confidence issue.
With some exceptions, everyone mom does what she thinks is best for her child depending on her resources and opportunities in life.
A working mom or a single mom with two jobs is not better than a married woman who gave up everything to raise a family. It is the same the other way around. I am annoyed when I hear stay-at-home moms badmouthing the woman who has or chooses to work outside the home.
We should treat each other with RESPECT.